ROBERT R. MOORE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that the impoundment of the appellant's vehicle was improper because the patrolman failed to notify the appellant and provide an opportunity for an alternative to impoundment.
Appellant was apprehended after a chase, and his car was impounded and inventoried, leading to the discovery of marijuana. The car was partially in a …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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DAUKSCH, Judge.
This is an appeal from an order placing appellant on probation. The issue for us to decide is whether the cases of Miller v. State, 403 So. 2d 1307 (Fla.1981); Session v. State, 353 So. 2d 854 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977); Jones v. State, 345 So. 2d 809 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977); Altman v. State, 335 So. 2d 626 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976) and State v. Jenkins, 319 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976) apply to the facts of this case. We hold that they do apply and reverse the order of the trial court denying the suppression of evidence.
After a chase, appellant was apprehended by the highway patrol and his car was impounded, inventoried and towed away. During the inventory the patrolman found some marijuana and arrested appellant for possession of the drug. The car which appellant had been driving was half-in and half-out of a ditch when it was finally stopped after the chase and, although the evidence is equivocal on this point, the car may have been presenting a traffic hazard at its resting place. Thus it can be concluded that it was necessary for the car to be impounded, inventoried and removed.
Although the cases cited above require a police officer to tell a person that his car is going to be towed away and to give the person a reasonable opportunity to provide an alternative to the impoundment, this patrolman failed to do so. Because of that failure the impoundment was improper, the inventory search illegal and the evidence inadmissible. The order denying the suppression is reversed and this cause is remanded for discharge of appellant.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
COBB and FRANK D. UPCHURCH, Jr., JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Wells v. State, 492 So. 2d 1375 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986)…tained contraband, and the officer concededly did not advise the defendant of alternatives to impoundment which were available to him.1 Miller v. State, 403 So. 2d 1307 (Fla.1981); State v. Marini, 488 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Moore v. State, 417 So. 2d 1131 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). The evidence would not support the search on the basis of probable cause because on this point too, the officer conceded that he had none. Nor can the search be supported as one incident to the defendant’s arrest, because it was…
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State v. Marini, 488 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986)…o prove that the arresting officer had properly advised the defendant of alternatives to impoundment of his vehicle, and therefore the search could not be sustained as an inventory search. Miller v. State, 403 So. 2d 1307 (Fla.1981); Moore v. State, 417 So. 2d 1131 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). The State does not dispute the correctness of this ruling, and could not do so success [*552] fully in the face of the trial court’s findings. The State also concedes here that the search of defendant’s vehicle was not based on…
Authorities Cited
- Sims Crane Serv., Inc. v. Am-Cal Constr. Co., 403 So. 2d 1307 (Fla. 1980)
- State v. Jenkins, 319 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)
- Fredric Winton Altman v. State, 335 So. 2d 626 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976)
- Jones v. State, 345 So. 2d 809 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977)
- Session v. State, 353 So. 2d 854 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977)